Flash Frozen
by Windfall39
Summary: What is a Hero? Is it someone who does everything for others and expects nothing in return? Is it someone who can dirty his hands when necessary and do what needs to be done? And what of himself? What kind of Hero was Naruto Uzumaki? Was he even worthy of being called one still? Slight OOC-Naruto. Naruto-centric.
1. Departure

**Departure**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, RWBY or anything else.**

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><p>A white void.<p>

In both the literal and figurative sense of the two words. Literal, due to the scenery or lack thereof before his eyes, squinting under his hood in a vain attempt to see an end to the white horizon as well as fight back against the biting cold. Here, in this endless field of snow piling upon snow and frozen, leafless trees, he was but a single brown speck in the sea of white thanks to his large, hooded traveling cloak that did its job well enough as he traversed the snowstorm, but a sharp eye would notice that the warming cloth was dangerously close to falling apart.

Figurative, in that his current scenery was exactly what his mind was like right now. And like this scenery, he was alone in nearly every sense of the word. But it was alright. Being alone wasn't bothering him anymore. Not when the blame for being in such a situation lie solely upon him. It was by his own foolish hand that he was here, alone and on the brink of collapse. A punishment he accepted without question. Perhaps it may have even been a fitting one for someone who thrived in the presence of companions.

"_It's my fault."_ Was the sole thought that maddeningly echoed repeatedly in his head. The slew of words always accompanied by a playback of his memories, depicting the same scene of failure over and over just to hammer it into his psyche that he was but a man... nay, a boy still. A foolhardy boy with half-baked, borrowed ideals and blind, baseless confidence. In a way, his own nature ended up being his downfall into what he was now. He was just like the creatures of shadow that roamed this pitch-black earth.

He was empty.

Or to be more accurate, he was like the very speck that represented his form in the whiteout. A small spark, glimmering faintly in the void. Though both body and mind were tired, ready to throw in the towel permanently, a feeling buried deep within his soul was still urging him to keep fighting. To believe there was still a chance for renewal. It was by this unknown feeling alone that he still wandered the lands armed and fought for whatever remained of his pathetic life instead of letting the mad beasts claw at his flesh.

But even that did not change the fact that he was basically living for the sake of living. Anyone who knew him, who truly knew him, would have found what he has become a pitiable sight. Though that was highly unlikely. No one in this world knew him nor cared about him. And he in turn reciprocated the mutual feeling, despite the protests of the unknown feeling in his soul. He found it was best that he didn't bother with making proper connections anymore, knowing that they will eventually be wrenched from his grip should he fail again. At least, not until he has finally finished his duty that has lasted an eternity.

Figuratively speaking for that last part, of course.

Frozen winds howling one last gale, the blizzard finally began to let up ever so slowly. Snow still fell from the heavens, but was noticeably calmer in their descent, a far cry from their offensive and biting pace during the storm. Finally free from hard squinting, eyes of brilliant blue hidden under the damp hood slowly widened at the increased visibility. But what was once a pair of eyes that sported a clear and happy outlook, his eyes were frozen in a perpetual state of unhappiness.

Stopping in his struggling trudge through the snowfield, a gloved hand peeked out from under his cloak, catching a clump of snowflakes in his palm before all quickly melted back to water. His cold eyes trailing one that landed in the dead center of his palm, one that lasted a good bit before his body heat eventually made it join its brethren. He found that snowflake oddly representative of himself, despite 'it's my fault' constantly repeating in his head. But though that snowflake stayed strong and true till the very end, he on the other hand, could see no end in sight for him.

Not if he keeps failing.

Raising his hooded head to stare at the slowly crawling form of the shattered moon on the horizon, he broke himself out of his inward reflection and returned to trudging through the snow. But before another step could be taken, a loud canine's howl echoed some distance away, a clear sign of the coming of night. The time period of each day that allowed the creatures of darkness ample time to play and roam the lands a lot more freely.

Like moths to a flame, which wasn't that inaccurate of an analogy, the guttural growls of the beasts as they stalked him from the shadows of the frozen trees was more than enough to alert him that they were on his tail. It was funny how he himself was empty, yet the mangy animals still threw themselves at him with reckless abandon when the opportunity arose. But he guessed that ripping something to shreds was just their way of life, since they didn't seem like they need to eat nor do they attack the local wildlife, just humans and the humans with animal ears or tails.

Oh there was no cause for alarm. He had been out here by his lonesome for the majority of his life. Honing his honed combat skills without rest, visiting towns only when he absolutely needed something he couldn't get in the wild. He was well-versed in fighting the beasts, since as said earlier, they didn't like leaving him alone. So as he expected, one finally grew impatient enough and lunged at him from the treeline.

Poor mangy mutt.

A reflexive countering grab was what this werewolf-like monster was subjected to. It was quite the average monster, so the lone traveler had little to no resistance when he casually spun the mutt over his head before tossing it back into the treeline. Knowing that he basically chimed the bell of battle, the traveler reached out and tugged at the collar of his worn cloak, ripping it off and throwing it away for the cold breeze to take to who knows where. Under that cloak was a plain set of inconsequential casual wear, torn ones that may as well have been rags. Heck, his overall hygiene was just plain terrible. Living in complete isolation and devoting every fiber of his being into becoming stronger certainly did not do wonders for him.

His golden yellow hair was dirtily damp, loose ends and uneven strands were everywhere on this spiky mane that was slightly matted from the melted snow that seeped through his cheap hood. His slightly pale face was no longer the light-tan it used to be, growing paler by the second as he stood exposed in the cold. But also because this part of the world seemed to be in a perpetual state of winter, the days when it wasn't snowing was almost always overcast at best. But there was one feature that was hard to miss even with the changed skin tone. The three pairs of lines that decorated his cheeks, the byproduct of developing in a womb that also housed a sentient mass of energy that was in the form of a fox with nine bushy tails.

And amidst the biting cold, none was frostier than his bored and unhappy blue eyes that surveyed his area, making a rough estimate of just how many he was going up against this time. There was certainly a lot more of them, but nothing he can't handle. Day in and day out, he'd been fighting monsters nonstop ever since the brutes destroyed the shack that he holed himself up in once he was able to provide for himself. But it was alright. Winning or losing. Surviving or dying. None of that mattered to him anymore. The former halves of the presented dualities would simply prolong his stay here, while he was certain that the latter would merit, at best, an extreme change in scenery.

With a flick of his wrist, his gloved hand now held a worn, torn and rusting Katana with half the blade snapped off. Though it was unimpressive, it was the best his meager pocket change could afford, even with haggling, since he also needed a whetstone to keep the remaining bits of its edge sharp. Other than this, all he had left was a survival knife and the clothes on his back. Holding the broken blade in front of him in the basic ready stance, the traveler said in a tired tone, "...Bring it."

As if his words were the trigger, the shadowy beasts began fervently jumping out of the treeline. Each one that drew close enough within the broken weapon's reach was quickly bisected mercilessly. It wasn't about being brutal, it was about making sure they no longer posed a threat by surviving this encounter. You see, despite taking similar forms to common animals, these monsters don't solely act on instinct. They had an uncanny ability to learn from previous encounters and adapt their hunting, like knowing when to cut their losses and retreat or even attacking him while he was on the can. That last one was a pain, since he literally had his pants down as he fought them in the biting cold.

Anyways, whenever the monsters decide to rear their ugly heads to him, he made sure that nothing survives nor escapes. Not only that, but he made sure he did it as fast as possible without any unnecessary flashy moves, just in case they start adapting mid-combat. Hearing another loud howl as he cut another werewolf, he saw even more packs of them approaching over the horizon he has already tread, eliciting a tired sigh as he grumbled, "...This isn't fun anymore."

Turning his head to the direction he was headed to, the lone traveler leaped into the frozen trees and hopped from branch to branch, the monsters hot on his heels as they dropped down to all fours like the mutts they were. Though he knew absolutely jack squat about weapon maintenance, even he could tell this was the fight that would shatter the sword into useless shards. It didn't help that the monsters were quite resistant to unarmored punching, leaving him with no other choice than to rely on the power of that tiny glimmer of light in his soul.

But to do that, he needed a bigger area to maximize its use and sweep the entirety of this unnatural horde off the face of this earth. While the trees in this land won't likely ever bloom with leaves again, he had no reason to be a dick to Mother Nature. Leaping across the branches, the traveler quickly cleaved the monsters that tried cutting him off like nobody's business. Years of fighting them on his own has given him ample information that despite all of them looking the same, not all of them had similar traits. The ones that tried cutting him off and some of the few he fought on the ground earlier were the agile ones, they were quite easy to bisect or maim.

The others in the horde however, were a lot tougher, in the sense that they could take a lot more punishment than being cut into meaty chunks. Looking over his shoulder as he kept his pace, the traveler saw that some of the monsters were now following him via the branches, while the others: the tough ones, were just steamrolling through the frozen trees as they chased after him. It was why he needed to find a large area to take them all out in one blow. Fighting the tougher ones with his broken sword was already a chore, so you could imagine how much of a pain it would be to punch them to death. Especially since the weather was degenerating back into a snowstorm as night fell.

"...Just my luck." He spat in disdain, vision slowly worsening as the blizzard began intensifying, nearly making him miss a branch to step on. Another loud canine's howl echoed across the empty, darkening void, which distracted him due to how close it sounded. That along with his tired body was enough to cause him to misstep, slipping and tumbling down into the snowy ground where he was immediately surrounded on all sides. "Just my luck, indeed."

Seeing as true confrontation was now inevitable, he whipped out the survival knife he had and twisted it into a reverse grip, similar to how a trench knife was held. Unlike the sword, it was in better condition, but that was mostly because of it's smaller frame, making maintenance a lot easier. He didn't wait for them to make the first move, he was more than happy to dish out the pain first for what was likely his last battle. Zipping at breakneck speeds to the closest one, he started things off with a sweeping low roundhouse kick that was instantly followed up by a high roundhouse to send the bear monster crashing into the ones behind it. They were only resistant, not immune.

But he didn't stop there and let them recover, he quickly followed it up by leaping into the air and diving at the disoriented group heel first. His ears rejoicing when he heard a sickening crunch that was more than likely the shattering of a spine. Feeling some air displacement behind him, the man reflexively ducked under a claw swipe aimed at his head and countered with a high kick that launched the offender high into the air, where he chased after it and delivered an axe kick to knock it back down. Repeating the heel-dive to land back down, the man quickly rushed to the next one and delivered a brutal flurry of punches, his blades in reverse grip to avoid being used or getting in the way when he was going for extreme close combat.

After a bone-breaking, two-fist punch for the finish, the man jumped away a short distance when two more tried flanking him from the side, clawing each other when their attacks missed before their heads were smashed together by the man and their bodies tossed aside to preoccupy another group charging at him. Using his crazy speed again, the young traveler dashed towards different individual monsters and began relieving them of their arms, legs and heads, deciding that it was best that he milk the broken sword for all its worth.

His sword eventually did break, shattering into useless shards after cutting down one of the gorilla-like monsters, one of the few of this horde's 'tough' ones that tasted his blade before it finally gave in. With only knife in hand, he proceeded his last stand by trying to slit some throats, but before he could run up to his next victim, another howl echoed in the dark, moonlit void. The ground began shaking as whatever it was approached ever closer, all he knew from that was that whatever it was, it was big. He could see from the corner of his eye that even some of the other monsters were unsure of what was going on. His eyes then focused back into the direction the howl came from, where a pair of large, blood red eyes began skulking about menacingly from the shadows of the treeline.

Not at all afraid of this predator that even managed to temporarily subjugate the horde, the man tried taking a threatening step forward, but due to his over exposure to the cold and his own lethargy, he was forced to stagger and cough. That opening was more than enough for whatever was in the trees to leap out with fervor, pouncing on his form with its larger body and forcing them to tumble across the snow. Managing enough strength to kick the beast off him, the young blonde saw that it was a wolf-like monster, grown to nearly the size of a truck. Not that he knew what that was.

Moving on... Its size wasn't the only thing that tipped off the blonde that this mutt was a cut above the rest. It was also several fur-less patches on its body and face, scars. Which meant this creature experienced many battles... a survivor.

Too bad that the mangy mutt made the stupid decision of fighting him.

Seeing it rear back for what he assumed another pounce, the young blonde braced himself for impact and readied a counter, only for the monster to leap back into the shadows of the treeline. The red eyes that his own icy blue locked into was watching, waiting for another opening to present itself. Of course, even with his focus elsewhere, he wasn't so distracted as to ignore the others monsters who capitalized on the unannounced entry by rushing him. Pushing through his declining bodily functions, the lone traveler wasted no time focusing on the ones approaching, keeping one eye trailing the wolf in the treeline.

"All the actors are on the stage..." Sadly for them, he didn't seem like he wanted to play around anymore. For a radiant aura of prismatic light started glowing around his body, "Now... Outta my way!" Was the last thing he said before an extremely bright flash of light exploded outwards from his body, enveloping the snowfield in its blinding radiance and illuminating the night sky around him. Not even the great wolf nor the shadows behind the trees around him was spared, everything in his immediate vicinity was wiped clean off the face of the earth by him.

It was his own special brand of a whiteout.

And like how all things come to an end, so was the young man's light show. The illumination of the field returning to its normal dark and cold state. But what was once a snow-filled road lined with frozen trees was now a large empty crater, the burst of light being a sphere of power that destroyed everything around the young man, whether above or underground. At least, it would have been empty, save for the young man tiredly panting down on one knee as snow continued falling and filling in the hole. It was almost certain that no trace of the crater would even be there by the next dawn due to the heavy blizzard.

"Heh... hahaha... never gets old..." The young man chuckled dryly before another round of violent coughing broke out, his hand reflexively covering his mouth despite being completely alone. _"It's my fault"_ once again reared its ugly head in his mind as he stared at his small hands that were cupping a disgusting mix of saliva and blood. Not that he could ever rebuke it. It was by his own hand that he refused to rest after training nonstop. By his hand that he used the power of his soul, which contained major drawbacks. By his hand that he didn't bother seeking a land with a warmer climate. And by his hand that he neglected taking better care of himself. There really was no one to blame but himself. "Yeah... people aren't afraid of death... they fear the pain it brings... to their body before it comes... I'm glad that... I'm no different..."

Weakened knees finally giving way, exhausted body performing an emergency shut down in a last ditch attempt at keeping him alive, the young man fell flat on his face on the ground. His frigid eyes slowly closing as snow began piling on top of his form. _"Well... what now, ...?" _Was his last thought before his consciousness finally gave out. Had he been able to stay awake longer, he would have noticed the approach of several figures, flashlights and rifles trained on him as one of the figures brushed away the snow converging on his prone form.

"Pulse is weak. But he's alive, if barely." The one who brushed the snow aside said after checking for the common vital signs. The specifics of this person was indiscernible however, due to the voice being muffled by a mask, and the build being hidden by thick layers of winter gear.

"Good. Bring him in." This one on the other hand, definitely came from a male. It was rather gruff and deep, so he was likely several years older. One the figures then asked whether that would be a good idea since they were feeling a bad vibe from the boy, prompting the man to sternly reply, "I don't recall anything written in your employee handbook that said you could question your superior's orders. Now, load him into the car before I make you carry him on your back while you walk back to HQ, Cat." Some of the flashlights began moving in this voice's direction at the harsh punishment, but not wanting to annoy the man further, the lights were only able to land on the man's body, which was clad in a plain, white, three-piece suit with a matching tie. One object of particular interest being a crystalline snowflake pin on the part of the necktie closest to the neck.

Not wanting to endure such a punishment, the one called Cat responded with a "Sir!" accompanying a salute and doing what he or she was told with the help of the others, loading our protagonist into the trunk of a black limousine, where he was covered with a thick cloth to help with his recovery. While that was going on, the soldiers' superior officer took his own seat inside the limousine and looked out the window with indifference. The soldiers themselves getting on trucks that likely served as the limo's escorts before the parade of vehicles drove off into the darkness.

One particular trait the vehicles and the soldiers all shared was a symbol of a snowflake, similar to the pin on their boss' tie.

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><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

Not much to say other than 'variety is the spice of life' or something like that.

I'm not aiming for any Author-dickery points by releasing new stuff rather than updating my old ones, but I was going mad with being slapped with my own bag of ideas that I just had to do something different.

If you're expecting a super-OP Naruto that plows through men, women and beast alike, then you're sadly not looking at that fic. Save your breath if your just gonna complain about me nerfing him again, I just don't like having him steamroll everything, okay? And I don't buy that 'holding back' schtick either. It's just pretentious. Yeah, you could argue that making mincemeat out of Grimms before obliterating them is probably contradictory, but I'd like to think a Dangerous Forbidden Technique is not something that can give an exact measure to someone's power.

As for plot... Yes, this story will have a main plot that focuses on Naruto and will primarily take center stage in the background of RWBY's own plot, if that makes sense. Don't worry, he'll eventually meet up with the main RWBY cast, but that would be a little later. Some of the first few chapters of this story are going to be pre-canon/original territory.

Next chapter will be out sometime this week, I guarantee it.


	2. Contract

**Contract**

**Disclaimer: First Chapter.**

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><p>"<em>How long are you gonna keep sleeping,...?"<em>

"_..."_

"_Still don't wanna talk to me, huh ...? That's fine. Just get up. We still have a lot of work to do."_

Feeling a strange warmth and wetness, frosty blue eyes slowly cracked open, blinking multiple times to adjust to the light before they opened as best as they can to find that he was in some kind of glass vat, one filled with warm water that seemed to be regulated to keep it from growing cold, but also to prevent it from becoming too hot. Blinking again to reorient his mind, he took a look around and saw that the rest of the place was dark, save for the dim lights outside from and aimed at his tube. Swimming forward, the blonde saw that his face was restricted by some kind of mask, a breathing apparatus by the looks of it.

Raising his hands to try and rip it off and get out of wherever the hell here was, the young lad was stopped from doing so when bright, white lights outside his tube suddenly flicked on. Other than the vat, the computers and other technological doodads he couldn't bother learning about, everything was annoyingly white like a hospital room, which he hated being in. A green light directly opposite from his tube traced a vertical line before they slid open to either side, revealing several personnel, armed with either rifles or clipboards. But what caught his attention wasn't the goons, but rather the sharp-dressed man in a suit.

He was well-aged by the looks of it. White hair and mustache, and blue eyes in a lighter shade compared to himself behind a pair of silver glasses. The man stood in front of his tank with his arms behind his back in that businessman-like manner, blue meeting blue as they just stood or floated there staring at the other. It seemed like the man was searching for something in his frigid blue eyes, but what exactly it was that he was searching for was completely unknown to the blonde.

Without breaking their locked gaze, the suited man said something to his cohort, a young-looking woman with short, brown hair and matching eyes. He couldn't hear what it was, but assumed that it was likely an order to release him considering that the warm water was slowly draining when his breathing apparatus stopped pumping oxygen. Once all the water was drained, the glass tube surrounding him descended into the machine while the breathing apparatus automatically detached itself from his face and retracted towards the top.

Since he was no longer floating within liquid, he was now down on his knees at the floor of the machine, slightly damp. But unlike the one where he was in the forest, it was the comfortable kind of damp. Not that it lasted long, since a large white towel was immediately draped over him by the brunette woman. Despite looking to her with a cold glare, she just kept up her own benign smile and offered her hand to help him up, which he didn't take by batting it away from his space and picking himself up. She didn't seem fazed by his rude behavior, but rather than complain, the woman simply shrugged her shoulders with a giggle and stood up from her squatting position.

Though he outwardly looked bored as he used the towel to dry himself, inwardly his eyes were already surveying just how many goons there were and who was the easiest to relieve of a weapon and possible escape routes. He already knew who needed to use as a hostage, and that was the suited man who looked bemused. _"He knows..."_ The youth assessed, seeing that the head honcho was completely relaxed, it was likely the suited man was already expecting some form of escape attempt. Another surveying round on the rather large room he was in, he managed to make out the shadows of armed people on the rafters: snipers, most likely. _"How flattering..."_

"Good afternoon, young man." The suited man began, breaking the silence that hung over the room, not counting the beeping of some computers and other consoles. The man's voice was rather gruff and deep, but also possessed a sophisticated air. It didn't really surprise him, considering he already knew this guy was likely the big cheese. After all, would you really listen to any normal Executive that orders you to release an unknown factor without question? No, this guy was the one in charge of everything. He had to be if all his employees complied to his orders without hesitation.

"..." The young blonde said nothing as he wrapped the towel around his waist, but did turn his attention to the man to indicate that he was aware of their presence. His silence however, didn't quite sit well with the soldier with the Cat mask over her face, who visibly bristled. They were no longer in build-concealing winter gear. The soldiers now sported a simple black, form-fitting bodysuit that covered them from head to toe, each sporting a different animal mask that reminded him of his lost home. The rest were in some kind of individual outfit under a white lab coat, but every single person there had the same snowflake symbol somewhere on their clothes.

"What's the matter, young man? Cat got your tongue? Very well. That just means that I shall start for us..." The man jested to break the ice, but it wasn't fooling the blonde one bit. He could tell that this man was only interested in business with him and nothing more. "First off, let me introduce myself. My name is Schwarz Schnee, CEO of the Schnee Dust Company of the Kingdom of Atlas. And you are?"

"..." Silence again was the response given. The cat-masked soldier bristling once again, which the CEO noticed and waved a hand at her to placate the short-tempered soldier.

"My, my... it seems the cat really got your tongue, eh lad?" Mr. Schnee jested again, noticing how Cat seemed to hate the child's guts. Not surprising considering how coldly the blonde boy seemed to glare at everyone in the room, especially his two masked bodyguards, Cat and Ox. "As amusing as this conversation is, I'm afraid you'll have to start speaking up, child. I am quite the busy man, and I do have places I need to be."

"... I'm no one. I'm just the reanimated corpse of a boy who once went by the name, Naruto." The blonde youth answered in a blank and self-deprecating tone that made it evident he didn't like saying it himself. Not only that, he said it in his native tongue, greatly confusing most of the people present and listening at the language being used. Having felt that he was no longer worthy of his name for being this pathetic, yet not having anything else to identify himself with either, it was not a question he liked answering anymore. At least, that would have been the case had he been actually interacting with people.

"Hm... Haruka, please translate his words for us." The CEO requested to the brunette woman from earlier, having assessed some similarities in the language used with one he read from the history books as being one of the Lost Languages. The woman, Haruka, responded to the request by spending a few minutes going through a handheld device before saying what Naruto just said word for word, eliciting a mixture of chuckles and snickers from all those present. "Hahaha~... That's quite the imagination you have there, child." Mr. Schnee commented jovially, holding out his hand in Haruka's direction, where the woman handed the CEO her handheld device, typing something Naruto didn't bother sneaking a peek at. "Let's see... Naruto, eh? Either means Maelstrom or Fishcake. So which do you prefer, child?" The man queried after spending roughly a minute looking at his device, which was probably used to search for a translation of his name.

"...Does it matter?" Naruto snapped, uncaring and using the common tongue they were speaking since it was glaringly obvious that he could understand them earlier when he first spoke up.

"No, I suppose not. But still, figuring out the meaning of a person's name is always a fun and enlightening activity. As is knowing what meaning they preferred, but I shall pry no further if that is your wish." Mr. Schnee replied, handing the device back to Haruka before placing his hand behind his back again. "Now then... Your manner of speaking has made it clear that you aren't the type to beat around the bush. I like that. Reminds me a bit of myself when I was younger actually."

"...Oh yeah?"

"Quite. But that was in the past. Growing older, having a family and leading the entirety of an International Business does tend to... refine one's manners." Mr. Schnee admitted with a sagely nod. The man then shook his head to prevent him from droning about his memories and returned to his initial, businessman-like demeanor earlier. "But that is a story you probably don't care about. So I'll cut to the chase... I want to enlist your services as part of the Schnee Dust Company's Private Security Division. I have seen it with my own eyes, child. You have both talent and skill in the art of combat, which your little 'demonstration' a few nights ago made clear in my eyes. I believe that with the right tutelage, training and cause, your prowess on the battlefield could be put to good use."

"..." Just in case you need a refresher, Naruto was just coldly glaring at the proposition.

"Of course, I'm not saying that you are to do this for free. I can see it in your eyes. You are defiant, perhaps a tad misanthropic as well. Even should someone save your life, you believe you do not owe them anything other than a 'Thank You'. Am I correct?" It was a miracle that the people in the room weren't freezing over with how colder Naruto was glaring at the man, who seemed unfazed and met the glare with his own calm gaze that spoke volumes that the CEO was not someone who was easily threatened by anyone. "Hence, in exchange for your services as one of my agents, you shall be properly compensated with a salary equal to that of a regular agent, as well as temporary housing in the building's empty suites until you have made enough money to rent or buy your own place of residence. Many have applied for this kind of job, and even fewer actually obtain the position. Don't squander this opportunity, young man."

A long silence then hung over the entirety of the room, none of the room's occupants saying a word as they awaited for Naruto's response to the CEO's proposition. Cat once again bristled in place, while next to her, an Ox-masked guard took out a notebook, jotting something down on it with a pencil. Haruka was busy reading some files on a clipboard, but was noticeably taking glances in their direction every now and then, while the rest simply stood and waited with their boss. After a few minutes of idle waiting, a sound finally broke out, but it wasn't what anyone was expecting. It was alarming and sudden, but most of all it was hollow and bone-chilling. It was no surprise that every guard suddenly aimed their rifles on Naruto, even the snipers on the rafters had their laser sights on the young boy as he laughed maniacally, as if the idea was completely ludicrous.

The people were so focused on Naruto's bout of insanity that nobody heard the swooshing noise of the automatic doors opening. Instead, they heard a childish edge to Naruto's laugh that seemed out of place, but still managed to enhance the creepy feeling of the empty laughter. It wasn't until Naruto himself noticed and stopped his own that everybody else in the room finally realized what was happening and saw that the childish half of the laugh was coming from somebody else. A little girl with white hair and light blue eyes, not unlike the CEO's own, laughing along before stopping when she felt that all eyes were on her. "I saw that boy laughing when I got here, so I played along. What was so funny? And why is he naked?" She asked, pointing to Naruto, who was looking at her quizzically before returning it to his usual cold glare for ruining his moment.

"Weiss? Why are you here? Didn't I tell you earlier that you are not to wander the office without Winter or a few guards escorting you?" Mr. Schnee reprimanded sternly, concerned for the little girl's safety. But rather than heed his words, little Weiss kept her attention... or rather matched the cold glare Naruto was giving with her own.

"Wow... they even have little brats running around... Ain't that a manipulative tug at the heartstrings." Naruto deadpanned with a dismissive scoff.

"Apologies, Naruto. Though I am the boss, even I am not exempt from 'Bring-your-child-to-work Day'. Participating in classic customs like these improves synergy with my employees. I assure you, it's not what you make it out to be." Mr. Schnee explained, trying to rectify the young loner's false assumption. "Weiss, where is your sis-"

"Hey! Who are you calling a brat!" Weiss called out, interrupting her father's query, prompting the man to palm his face at his young daughter's impulsiveness.

"Who else is there to call one? That guy?" Naruto joked in a blank tone, jerking his thumb to the Ox-masked guard, who was actually quite muscular. "Beat it, brat. The adults are busy talking and you're interrupting a business deal." Naruto said with a shooing motion of his hand, pressing Weiss' buttons even further. While this was going on, Mr. Schnee was rubbing his temples with his forefingers at the tiring exchange between children. Weiss then pointed out that Naruto shouldn't call her a brat when he didn't look any older than herself, but the blonde simply retorted with, "Heh. Looks can be deceiving, brat. Haven't you met Ms. Haruka?"

"Hey!" Haruka called out indignantly at the sudden jab, gaining strange looks from her co-workers by reacting to it, causing her to look away while sheepishly twirling a lock of her hair with a finger.

"Grrr... Oh yeah? If I'm a brat, that makes you a big, fat, naked, poop-headed jerk!" Chuckling a bit at the ineffective insult, Naruto just crossed his arms while looking condescendingly smug at the white-haired heiress, idly wondering why she decided to include the fact that he was in a state of partial undress. For her part, Weiss looked like she wasn't backing down one bit, showing that despite the frosty theme of this land, she had some fire in her. Admirable and impressive, even to a cold, anti-social jerk like Naruto, but only by a tiny bit.

A bemused chuckle escaped from Naruto's mouth, breaking the tension and focusing everyone's attention to him, due to how much better it sounded compared to earlier. "Know what, Mr. Schnee? You can gain my employ... but you can keep your wages, your housing, your training, your politics and your opportunities. I couldn't care less about that crap. What I want is that." Naruto finished stone-faced and pointing at Weiss, shocking the girl and everybody else at the insane demand.

"My daughter? You drive a hard bargain, boy." Mr. Schnee mused with an edge in his tone, waving his hand at some of his soldiers who were about to voice their outrage. Their was no question as to what he would answer with. Heck, there was no need to even mull it over or weigh the options In his head. But before he could flatly refuse the demand, Naruto spoke up again, aware of their misconception.

"No, I didn't mean the brat. Solid gold. Half a brick per job. Non-negotiable." Naruto clarified, as those close to the two parties finally realized that he was not pointing at Weiss, but her gold necklace.

"A hard bargain indeed." Mr. Schnee pondered, thumb under his chin in contemplation. Now that the boy's demands was a lot clearer, he finally had the incentive to think over the terms. Basically, he would lose a lot of money for paying one boy a rough estimate of the salary of over 10 guards. Not to mention that the boy made it clear that he has no care for allegiances or connections, making the boy a flight-risk. But the boy had skills, talent and best of all: power. He was certain that the boy would be more than capable of filling in for those possible guards, who would be above-average at the very least. Not to mention that he would only actually need to pay Naruto when the boy does a job for him, so there was that. _"Hm...perhaps with the right plays of certain cards..."_

"I thought you didn't want money?" Haruka questioned, finding the requested fee contradictory.

"Just not your pathetic currency. I want the big bucks. Gold has value wherever you go." Naruto answered, rubbing his thumb with his index and middle fingers to emphasize his point. "But I understand that it is quite daunting of a price. So as an alternative, you can pay with Gemstones. Precious ones at that. No duplicitous shiny rocks, either. A bucketful per job."

"What? Are you saying I'm not good enough for you!?" Weiss called out, offended at the insinuation that she was worth less than gold or jewels. But the response Naruto gave without even batting an eye at her direction caused her to huff and look away with an angry pout.

"Watch what you say, brat. People just like getting the wrong idea when they hear crap like that."

"Don't be absurd!" The Cat-masked guard yelled, finally having had enough of the boy's blatant impudence. "You think just because the boss scouted you personally that he will so easily cave in to your outrageous demands?"

"What you see, may not be what you want... But it's also what you get." Naruto dismissively replied, knowing her outburst was more about his attitude rather than his skills.

"Yeah? And what we saw is just some overconfident boy who took down a bunch of Grimm with a powerful Semblance. That's not the only thing you'll be fighting against in this line of work, little boy." Cat added, enlightening Naruto with several unfamiliar terms he filed away for later research. Having already knew that he would need some background knowledge on certain subjects about this world to effectively hide in plain sight. No thanks to the renewed yet unwanted lease on his life here. "So get off your high-horse and start showing some respect to your betters."

"Heh. It doesn't matter to me whether you're a man, woman, man-beast or monster. You want an ass-kicking so badly? You got one. " Naruto said, glare and cocky tone coming to life as he set his cold sights on Cat. Cracking his knuckles and getting some cricks out of his neck, Naruto continued, "I thought my plan of beating the shit out of everything here before I broke a wall and left would have been more than enough to show you, but thanks for volunteering."

"Heh. I've been waiting for the chance to put you in your place ever since you got out of your tub." Cat said, stepping forward to the challenge.

"You can use personal effects for this battle, Cat." Mr. Schnee added.

"Sir? Not you too!" Haruka questioned, having assumed that her boss would stop this fight rather than support it. Not only was the room ill-suited for battle, there was also the fact that the young heiress was here along with several defenseless scientists.

"I'm quite interested in young Naruto's capabilities and potential, Haruka. Sadly, if he really is only a match against Grimm, then he would be of no use to the Company. Having Cat face him without restricting her to the rifle should provide some excellent data that could serve us well." Nodding in understanding but not liking the reckless decision, Haruka motioned for little Weiss to come over to her and step away from the two combatants and her father, with most of the scientists following suit. The little girl did so, but was noticeably interested in the fight, likely wanting to see the insufferable blonde get his face bashed in.

Crossing his arms in a bored manner, yet narrowing his eyes even further at what he was seeing, Naruto watched the Cat-masked guard whip out a pair of large gauntlets with the left one in particular having some kind of blue, bead cord that automatically wrapped itself on Cat's left arm. Giving her wrists a few twists for synchronization with a weapon she hasn't been wielding for a long time, Cat decided for some intimidation by flashing a brief instance of the weapon's true form: that of clawed gauntlets with equally large blades. Not wanting to speculate further, Naruto requested, "Mask. Off."

"Why? So you can read my face to know what I'm planning? Ha! Don't make me laugh, kid. Only an experienced fighter would be able to do that. And too bad for you, I don't count a schoolyard tussle or sibling pillow fights as proper combat experience."

"Then you should have nothing to fear. After all, I am just a kid." Naruto taunted in his usual calm manner. Cat chuckled derisively at the truth before sending a look to her boss asking for permission. When Mr. Schnee gave a nod in agreement, she put a hand to the porcelain cat mask and took it off her face. Long dirty-blonde hair in a wrapped ponytail cascading out of the black ski mask that accompanied the porcelain mask and covered everything except her eyes, which were a black color, and fair skin with lips painted with red lipstick, there was no mistaking it. This was someone Naruto knew of from before he ended up in this world. _"So that means..."_ Naruto thought, casting a glance at the muscular, Ox-masked guard who was busy jotting something down on his notebook. His glance then drifted downwards, focusing on the guard's softly tapping foot in rhythm to a beat only Ox can hear. Shaking his head to clear it of the thoughts, Naruto called out, "I had a knife on me."

As if they were expecting that, one of the guards tossed Naruto's sheathed survival knife to the boy, catching and taking it out of its sheathe in one motion. The whiskered young lad shadowboxed with the reverse-gripped knife for half a minute, looking as if he was getting a feel for the weapon again before standing-by on the basic boxing stance. The two combatants just staring at the other as they waited for the signal to go. Naruto looking indifferent as if this was a waste of time, while Cat matched his expression with a poker-face, but there was a glint of eagerness in her eyes.

"You know... he'd look a lot more threatening if he was wearing something more than a towel..." Weiss deadpanned, sitting next to Haruka, who tried stifling a giggle at the little girl's casual and admittedly amusing observation. "Hey! Is this just a staring contest or what? Fight already!" Weiss called out, having lost her patience at the lack of action.

"Took the words right out of my mouth, milady!" Cat said, darting forward hastily like a cat who just spotted its mouse. And like the cat-themed person she was, she took out her claws from the gauntlet and went for a wide slash at Naruto's midsection. Proximity and wide-range making it a difficult attack to dodge, yet was easily avoided by Naruto anyway when he reared his upper body back. _"What the...How was that possible?"_ Cat thought, having been certain that the evasive maneuver he would use be a duck, in which case she would follow up with a knee-strike to take advantage of his lowered position. Eyes drifting downward, she noticed that there was a bigger distance between their feet than when she first struck. Meaning that while he indeed stepped back, it was a small enough distance to make it nearly unnoticeable.

"You're watching closely. That's good." Naruto commented as he continued weaving back and away from Cat's wide claw swipes. Turning her attention to him, he was looking bored as ever, even fake-yawning to get her to lose her cool faster. "Sight is one of the main senses used during combat. And like the cat you are, yours are quite sharp. Alas..." Leaping back, Cat retracted her claws into her gauntlets and attached on a pair of long bandoliers armed with small blue crystals to them. She then began repeatedly punching the air, which released a shot of blue fireballs at him.

Naruto avoided the shots by running in a serpentine motion while slowly drawing closer. Cat was about to adapt by firing at the place he was gonna be next, rather than where he is, but she flinched when he closed the remaining distance between them with what looked like a flash-step and threw the towel at his waist onto her face, forcing her to struggle to get it off due to the sudden improvisation. But before Cat could get it off, she was knocked down on her back with surprising force and felt the touch of cold metal pressed to her neck. The towel was pulled off her shortly after, leading to the sight of Naruto straddling her while pointing his knife's tip to the center of her throat, looking bored as he said, "You're gonna need more than a sharp eye to catch me."

"But... You... How..." Cat sputtered in disbelief before she felt the pressure on the knife slightly increase, silently telling her to call the match herself. "Fine. It's my loss." Upon Cat's words, Naruto got off her and fastened the towel back to his waist and went to pick up the sheathe. Still wanting to teach the arrogant kid a lesson, Cat capitalized on the opportunity of the supposed easy victory by creeping up to him while his back was turned for picking up his knife's sheathe and readying a shot. However, she was forced to stop midway when she felt his knife poised to stab her in the stomach should she move another inch.

"The moment even the smallest muscle on your finger moves to pull the trigger, this knife will be buried in your gut and spilling your stomach acid for both sides of your body to enjoy before you can even blink. There's no question that I'll get away unscathed. You on the other hand..." He trailed off before coldly glaring at her over his shoulder and continuing, "Well? Do you feel lucky, punk?"

"Alright. I think that little show was more than enough to alleviate your uncertainties, Cat." Mr. Schnee interjected sending Cat a stern look that made her shudder. While he was thankful for the extra demonstration, it didn't change the fact that she spoke out of turn and possibly endangered her co-workers with her temperamental stunt. It was only a miracle that their was little to no property damage and that none of the bystanders got in the crossfire.

"Aww... I didn't even get to see the end, Ms. Haruka!" Weiss complained, having had her eyes covered by Haruka's hands the moment Naruto ripped the towel off himself. Haruka just told her that it was Naruto who emerged victorious, causing Weiss' mouth to turn into a frown as she took the woman's hands off her face. "Hmph! This sucks... What kind of story has the bad guy winning?"

"That would be the gritty and realistic kind, Shirayuki-sama~." Naruto answered in a sarcastic, mocking tone, knowing that these people had the need to use translators whenever he spoke in his native tongue. While Haruka raised an eyebrow at the strange yet fitting nickname, Weiss on the other hand thought the abrasive boy was insulting her... again.

"Shira-what now? Whatever! Your stories suck!"

"Weiss, darling... Just please... Cat, escort Weiss to her sister and make sure they stick together for the rest of the day." Mr. Schnee said, tiredly rubbing his temples at the brewing headache. He just knew that this was just gonna be the first of many should he indeed decide to hire Naruto. Putting her mask back on and giving a salute in compliance to the order, Cat headed for the door but before the white-haired girl followed after her, the Schnee heiress figuratively gave Naruto the middle finger by pulling down one of her eyelids and sticking her tongue out mockingly at his direction.

"Love you, too." Naruto said in his usual smug and mocking manner before turning his attention elsewhere. Weiss just huffed at that and stormed off after Cat, who was waiting for her patiently by the door. Seeing as the little girl was now gone and they can move on to business, Naruto decided to start things off by returning to his blank scowl as he asked, "Well, what's it gonna be, Gramps?"

"Believe me, child, your offer is quite tempting. But I'm afraid I have my own terms to set. This is after all, a business deal. Equal benefits must be present for both parties. I thought it best that you hear this now, rather than later. A trust-building exercise, if you will." Mr. Schnee said, eliciting an appreciative nod from Naruto who motioned for him to go on. "All right then. Firstly, we will need several pieces of personal information. This is needed to create an identity for you as a citizen of the Kingdom of Atlas, as well as your passports for legal travel to the Kingdoms of Vale, Mistral and Vacuo. However, because of your unknown origins, the information that will be presented to the Council will inevitably be incomplete. Therefore, you will need to have a place of residence within the Kingdom, and due to your young age you must also have a legal guardian who shall have custody over you until the age of 18. Do you see where I am going with this?"

"Clearly." Naruto said through gritted teeth. It was obvious enough why it made him mad. Having to live with someone for a few years would inevitably make some sort of connection to this world, and he simply couldn't afford something so trifling, especially since he needed to focus on finding out and fulfilling his duty. Add in the fact that the future was never set in stone, and Naruto dreaded the thought of him failing again and unwillingly losing that connection. He could tell that he would just go mad should that happen again.

"Next, the Schnee Dust Company prides itself on overall excellence. As an Agent directly under my supervision, should I find your performance... unsatisfactory, it is well within my rights as your employer to rectify those problems with any method I see fit. Do keep in mind, however, that while I understand and acknowledge that your terms have you perform your duties at your own discretion, this is to make certain that the Company's standard is upheld at all times."

"Look, Gramps." Naruto interjected, rubbing his temple from the headache he was getting as he tried to keep up. Not to mention that the CEO was saying it in as formal a way as possible. Gods, he just couldn't stand formalities. "All my terms said was half a gold brick per job. When I said I don't give a crap for your training and all that malarkey, I meant exactly that. If you wanna waste money teaching an old dog new tricks then that's fine by me. Ultimately, that's gonna be your loss, not mine."

"I see. Very well. However..." Mr. Schnee resumed, placing his hands behind his back again in his usual manner. "I must still inform you of our final term. Quite a deal of importance and can be summed up with a word. Would it be safe to assume you can interpret the implications of this term by the word alone?" Mr. Schnee questioned in a much more grave tone compared to the regular serious business one. Naruto narrowed his eyes in suspicion before motioning for him to continue, "Confidentiality. Once again, because of your irregular employment contract, you are to be my direct subordinate and Security Agent. Thus, you accept and report jobs directly to me and whatever is discussed between us is to be kept within the confines of my office or the study of my Home. Is that clear?"

"Crystal."

"Good. Then do we have an accord?" Mr. Schnee said, offering his hand for a shake.

Staring at the older man's hand as he thought it over, Naruto analyzed the words as thoroughly as he possibly can. Everything seemed like it was easy enough to deal with. The first was a mild annoyance at best, and the spark to a living nightmare at worst. The second was absolutely inconsequential, which basically boils down to 'don't be incompetent'. The third, well... he should have expected something like that. Everyone has their own skeletons in the closet, some even like adding more. Naruto didn't know what kind of businessman Mr. Schnee was, and frankly, he did not care. All that mattered to him was the payment he asked for and fulfilling his duty. Anything else was unimportant.

Outstretching his arm, Naruto looked as if he was about to shake the hand to seal the deal, only for him to bat it away just like he did with Haruka's earlier. Some of the guards pointed their rifles at him, but Mr. Schnee placated them with a wave of his other hand. The older man was about to express his disappointment, but was prevented from doing so when Naruto spoke up, "Take it easy, Gramps. I'm just averse to touching, yeah? I didn't say I was refusing the deal."

"Then?"

"Contract established. You'll have your money's worth."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes<strong>

Yeah, Naruto's kind of... well, maybe not kind of... He's a big jerk in this. Not just to Weiss, but he'll be like that to nearly everybody he meets. It's sort of like a defense mechanism. He just doesn't care about Remnant or making connections with its people. I'm not saying it's justified, but that is his reason if it wasn't obvious enough. Trust me, he'll get better as the fic goes on.

I don't know if Weiss can be counted as being OOC(Out of Character) right now, but if she is, that's because she's still a kid and this is before canon. She'll have plenty of time to grow into her canon persona. Though I may not be able to show that growth in the fic itself, since the story heavily focuses on Naruto.

It's an Author's creative liberty to mislead. What some things said/written here might not exactly be what you think it is. Hey, gotta keep some mystery and intrigue to keep those interested into expecting the next part, right? (unless you're just here to read characters screw, which I have no problem with if that's all you're here for. Honesty is the best policy and all that.) Not counting the parenthesized part, this is exactly the reason why some parts about Naruto isn't being explained yet.

On to what most readers of RWBY fics are waiting for teams, weapons and shipping. All I can say for all of them is that you'll just have to wait and see. You'll probably see his weapon on the next chapter(3rd) or the one after that(4th). Teams(and by that I mean whether he will or won't have one) might be indicated by the 5th chapter. Pairings will be a lot later, when he joins up with the RWBY cast which might be around the 7th or 8th chapter with the first hint being around the 6th. More or less its around those numbers. Future isn't set in stone after all.

Last question is whether other series/Naruto-verse stuff will come into play in one way or another. The answer is a 'very likely' since its part of my plot. Nothing major, just a few characters who'll be fairly important. Hint: You already met roughly three of them in this chapter.

Dunno, when the next one will be out. Probably Sunday or Monday. So Review a lot more, since my OCD is killing me when the Review counter isn't ending with a 0 or 5. Just kidding(or am I?).


	3. Set and Props

**Set and Props**

**Disclaimer: First Chapter.**

* * *

><p>"This sucks..." Naruto grumbled for the Nth time with his arms crossed, leaning his back on a wall of an elevator. He was now dressed in the same black bodysuit that every guard wore sans the mask, which he had to go request to be made from the Arts &amp; Crafts Division. Of course, it was only lent to him and since he was obviously younger than the clothes' donor, it was a few sizes bigger than him. Once their deal was struck, Mr. Schnee immediately had the workers involved get started on setting up Naruto's identity as a citizen of Atlas. That meant rectifying the blanks that would appear on his personal data. And that's where his...dilemma is coming from.<p>

He was given his legal guardian on the spot. Shady and crafty weren't a good match, and Mr. Schnee was equal parts both and then some. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that the CEO already decided on who would take the role of his guardian the moment he explained that part in their contract. He could practically picture that the CEO was laughing his own maniacal laugh as he sat on a throne of money stacks or something in his office, probably call him a whippersnapper while he's at it too.

When they said he was going to be put under someone's guardianship, he was actually expecting to be put under the CEO's care. At least with the boss, he wouldn't need any other relationship other than their professional one. Not to mention that he would have little Weiss and whatever other youngsters the Schnee family had to torment, which was probably one of the few things he didn't find boringly stupid. But sadly, the things he wants doesn't always coincide with the things the world wants. The fact that he was found by civilization again in the first place was another nail to that coffin.

"Hey, enough of that. You'll be fine and I'm sure we'll get along wonderfully~." A short-haired, brunette woman said to him with a warm smile that did nothing to defrost the frozen scowl on his face. Despite being a jerk to her earlier, Haruka Ouma did not let that bother her and remained steadfast in getting to know her new charge. While she would admit that being chosen as his guardian caught her off guard, she accepted the task wholeheartedly. Having felt that it was going to be a good opportunity for the both of them to grow as people. And if she could say it to his face, she always wanted to know what it felt like to have a son.

"That's exactly why this sucks." Naruto muttered under his breath. In the span of the hour they've been forced to spend together, no amount of jerkassery seemed to deflate Haruka's attempts at starting a bond with him. She was quite persistent due to both her natural curiosity and her scientist mindset. Each time she asked a simple question and he brushed her off, she would pester him until he answered using a myriad of annoying methods to make him talk. Not that he did, since he dodged the questions by asking her about the things he didn't know about this world. And it was because of Haruka's position as an intellectual and a wannabe mother that she couldn't help but enlighten, in her eyes, her son of the knowledge he lacked.

"Don't be so negative~! It'll be an adventure!" Haruka reassured, pumping her fists energetically to keep thoughts about the arrangement as optimistic as possible.

"It'll be suffocating is what it is."

"That's because we've only just started." Haruka reasoned. Naruto rolling his eyes at the excuse as his ears perked up at hearing the 'ding' sound of the elevator hitting their target floor. The automatic doors then slid open to allow them to exit into the floor proper, which was the Research and Development Division of the Schnee Dust Company according to the sign nearby. "I'm sure with both time and effort on both of our parts, we'll be able to defrost all the ice that imprisoned your lonely heart and give way for the kind and gentle boy deep within to come to the surface!"

"Yeah, good luck with that." Naruto commented with clear sarcasm. He didn't show it on his face, but the woman's earnest effort at trying to get him to open up was quite baffling for him, and admittedly a bit flattering. Not that he'll say that last part out loud any time soon. "Kids are innocently honest, almost to a fault. When it comes to what you see on my surface, it isn't any different from what's inside. What makes you even think that there is such a boy like that within me?"

"Mother's intuition." Haruka answered in a chipper tone. Eyes narrowing dangerously at the given reply, Naruto glared at the woman and warned her that though she may be his guardian, that doesn't make her his mother. But it was for that same reason she gave him that Haruka could just tell that no matter how many times she implied that or said those words, Naruto would never intentionally or maliciously hurt her. That's why she kept up her beatific smile no matter how much he glared at her.

"Tch. Whatever. What are we even doing here? I thought we were gonna get some lunch first?" Naruto asked, turning his attention to the random interior designs of the building absentmindedly.

"Why we're here to pick up your sister of course~!" Haruka chirped happily as she entered a code into a Communications panel, where a specific tune went off somewhere deep inside the other room.

Unsurprisingly, that grabbed Naruto's attention back to the older woman, causing him to break his idling by asking in a very surprised tone a simple, "Wait, what!?" Once the tune finished playing, the automatic lock on the door was released, prompting Haruka to enter with Naruto right behind her, still quite confused. "I thought you were a widow and didn't have kids?"

"You were listening!" Haruka pointed out happily, having noticed that he almost always looked like he was ignoring everything so she thought he wasn't listening when she told him a bit about herself. Naruto corrected her by saying that he wasn't 'listening' and was just 'hearing' that time, but Haruka just ignored his insisted term and answered his question, still in her happy tone, "Now, now... I was only joking, no need to look so mad~!" She placated, slightly withering from the glaring Naruto gave her for the, in his eyes, bad joke. "We're actually here to pick up something for your new job... A prototype weapon that Mr. Schnee requested for you to field test and record some performance data for. We found some broken metal shards in your...crater, so we assumed you have experience in using more than just a survival knife."

"Ah, sou." Naruto shrugged, returning to his uncaring persona when he got what he wanted. "You do know you could have just told me that rather than tell me about another brat to deal with."

"But it was more fun that way~! I wish I had a camera on me that time! It would have made a good cover for our scrapbook~!" Haruka cheered, heavily excited at the prospect of parenting, especially since she was allowed to skip the diaper-changing part.

"Now listen here, woman. Don't try pushing this bad joke any further. Even the Buddha loses his patience whe-"

"Anyways, who taught you that Lost Language, Naruto?" Haruka asked curiously, hands behind her back while walking backwards in the same manner teenaged girls do, which the whiskered boy would have found both oddly endearing and dissonant if he wasn't inwardly seething at being interrupted. "I mean, they're called 'Lost' for a reason. So you couldn't have possibly been self-taught."

"Then you'd be surprised how easy it is to read a book."

"Hardy-har-har. Very funny, mister." Haruka pouted at the sarcastic deflection, not buying it one bit. She would have moved to pester him for the answer, but seeing as they have arrived at their destination, she relented and decided to ask him again later. "We're here! Aya! Are you still around?" Haruka called, entering through the automatic doors with Naruto in tow as he looked around to see where was now at. It was, annoyingly like every other place in the building, blindingly white and pristine. The only breaks in the white was the different machinery and thankfully, some indoor plants for decoration.

"Ms. Haruka? I'm in the back!" A voice responded after a minute of uncertain silence. While it was obvious that it was a girl due to the name and Haruka's earlier implication, Naruto didn't expect it to sound so... young. Having expected that this person would have at least been the same age as Haruka was, like maybe a drinking buddy, only for this 'Aya' to flip his expectations upside down. "I'll be right there in a sec...just give me a few minu-Kya!"

_Crash!_

"You okay?" Haruka asked, yet not moving from her spot which Naruto found odd.

"Y-Yeah! I'm fine. Sorry, but you'll just have to wait a little bit longer, okay!?"

"Alright!"

"Ugh. What the fuck is wrong with you!?" Naruto called out, moving towards the back room where this 'Aya' was so as to not waste any more of his admittedly ample free time dawdling in wait. But as he made his way towards the back room where the voice came from, Haruka stepped in front of him and simply laid her hand on his shoulder and shook her head, silently telling him not to do anything. Glaring at her as he smacked her hand off him, Naruto proceeded inside anyway, stopping in his tracks with a perplexed look as he thought, _"Oh, this is just bril-fucking-liant..."_

'Aya' was a brunette like Haruka, but hers was in a darker shade compared to the older woman and was arranged in a short ponytail. She had similarly-colored eyes and was fair-skinned, in contrast to the healthy pale complexions most others had. But that wasn't what prompted Naruto's reaction, it was the fact that the girl was not picking herself up off the floor. Not because she didn't want to, but simply because she can't. For right there, a few spaces back and its wheels still slightly spinning was a black wheelchair turned over its side. It didn't take a genius to put two and two together.

"I'm real sorry, Aya. I tried stopping him..." Haruka apologized, poking her head through the doorway.

"Ms. Haruka? Who's this?" The girl asked, but before the answer could be provided, Naruto walked up close and kicked her chair... back to its upright position. Realizing what was about to happen, Haruka tried stopping him, but it was all for naught as he was just ignoring her again in favor of doing his own thing. He was about to pick up the downed girl, but she suddenly asked in an alarmed-almost-yelling tone, "Wait, stop! What are you doing!?"

"_And they say I'm a dumbass..." _Naruto thought with a roll of his eyes at what he deemed a stupid question. "I'm helping you back on your chair. What else does it look like?"

"No thanks, I can get back on it myself just fine. I don't need your help." She said in refusal of the assistance, managing to stop Naruto from kneeling down and picking her up. "I'll only take a few minutes, so just go and wait outside, okay? It's kind of embar-Wait!" However, her request was cut short when Naruto picked her off the floor and carried her to her chair where he unceremoniously dropped her on it as if she were a tiring basket of laundry he had to carry through several flights of stairs. Looking cross at the blatant disregard for her wishes, the girl shouted, "I said I didn't need your help! I have a strict-"

"Yeah, whatever." Naruto interjected, waving off her anger with his blank scowl in place. "I don't particularly care what the hell your reasons are. My time is better wasted with other things than spending it with either of you."

"Well aren't you a pleasant ball of sunshine?" The girl snapped sarcastically, reining in her anger as she turned to Haruka with her previous question, "Who is this guy anyway, Ms. Haruka?"

"Oh him? He's my new son, of course~!" Haruka answered in her usual chipper tone, completely ignoring the growing tick mark on Naruto's head. The boy locked his eyes with the girl for a brief second before turning his head away back into ignoring everybody else. "Though, you'll have to excuse him, dear. He's just a bit shy."

"No, I'm not. Don't put words in my mouth." Naruto corrected plainly, much to Haruka's continued amusement. "And for the third time, you're not my mother."

"Third?" Haruka wondered with a puzzled look which turned to realization when she recalled him trying to reprimand her earlier before they entered the room. But Haruka didn't bother dwelling on the subject any further in favor of getting things back on track. "Anyways... Naruto, this is Ayase Shinomiya, my friend's surrogate daughter and a Technology and Weapons Developer for the SDC. She'll also be your go-to when it comes to maintaining your new weapon as well as your Comm Link operator on... tougher jobs that Mr. Schnee sends you on. So please get along well with her like you did with Lady Weiss~!"

"I didn't hear anything about this!" The two youngsters chorused before blinking upon realization that they spoke in unison for that. Haruka just giggling into her hand when the two began glaring at the other, at least, that's what she thought Naruto was doing under his ever-present poker-face. "Woman, did the old man really order this... arrangement?"

"Mm-hmm!" Haruka nodded, whipping out her Scroll, which was the handheld device they used for a variety of purposes, and showing them the order file that Mr. Schnee sent her, complete with the CEO's e-signature. While Naruto nodded in resignation at the deal, he couldn't help but wonder why it wasn't sent to his own assigned Scroll, since it did involve him the most. As if reading his mind, Haruka then spoke up, "It's because you're still under my guardianship, Naruto. Gotta make sure Mama is okay with you hanging out with girls, yeah?"

Naruto was about to warn her again for pushing this whole 'Mother-Son' thing, but was unable to when Ayase wheeled herself in front of him and offering a handshake. "Naruto, right? I know we had a rocky start, but seeing as we're going to be partners no matter our say on the issue, I believe it would benefit both of us to at least be on neutral terms with the other." Ayase explained, missing the soft smile Haruka had as she watched the action. "So, let's start over... My name is Ayase Shinomiya, 'Assistant' Technology and Weapons Developer. It's a pleasure to meet and be working with you!" She finished sending Haruka an annoyed look for missing the 'Assistant' part before putting on an earnest smile. It wasn't one that said they'll be the best of friends, but one that wanted to 'try' to get along.

"Nothing against you, but I'm just not the touchy kind of guy." The whiskered blonde replied, but instead of batting away her hand like he did for everybody else, he turned away in an aloof manner and focused his attention to the holographic screens where it displayed a diagram of what looked like a very thin sword with some kind of wheel-like mechanism near the hilt. _"Crisis averted, I guess." _He didn't show it, but he was a little relieved that his dealings with Ayase can be limited to work-related things and nothing more. This overly-enthusiastic, wannabe mother was more than enough work to keep away from him. "Also... While I can get behind your sentiments, you shouldn't be lying by saying things like 'It's a pleasure' to someone who's clearly unpleasant. Besides, lying is bad for your complexion, you got that Wheels?"

"Naruto!"

"It's fine, Ms. Haruka." Ayase placated the older woman, not at all offended at the insensitive nickname. Instead, she found it an oddly refreshing change of pace to finally meet someone who didn't have to watch what he says around her. Someone who, whenever he did, didn't look at her with the same eyes that everybody else had. Make no mistake though, Ayase thought of him as a jerk, no question. But him admitting that his own attitude is bad was good enough a hint that there was a decent person underneath the abrasive exterior. "So, you're the new guy, eh? I'll admit, when I got the notification about a weapon pick-up, I was expecting someone... I dunno, older?" Ayase remarked to get everything back on track. "Not that I'm one to talk about age being justified grounds to doubt someone's skills."

"Heh. Amen to that." Naruto agreed with a snort, finding that that was a wise way of looking at things. "So, where's this new toy the old man wants me to play with?"

"We were almost finished attaching the data recording chip, but then the lunch bell came, and well... a look around the room should be enough of an explanation. Anyways, just give me a minute to add the finishing touches, then we can go." Ayase explained, heading to one of the consoles and typing in some technological mumbo-jumbo that was completely lost on Naruto. Minutes passed with everyone doing their own thing, Haruka talking to Ayase in a hushed tone while Naruto was busy going over some database files on one of the open consoles.

Studying was more of a chore than anything. The renewed lease on his life and contact with civilization meant that he needed to do a brush-up of what makes the world of Remnant tick. Mind you, he didn't go any farther than the things he needed to know, like the monsters being called Grimm, soul power being called Aura and Semblance, magic being called Dust and that the humans with animal ears, tails and whatnot being called Faunus. He also learned a bit about the Four Kingdoms, but only because he wondered why they need translators to decipher his Japanese.

Apparently, Japanese was one of the 'Lost Languages' which was the general term for languages from the time before the ancient war with the Grimm. They gained the 'Lost' prefix due to the decision of that time period's Ruling Councils to use only one language for both convenience and to serve as a symbol of Humanity's unity against the Grimm by eliminating one of the barriers that restricted them from each other long ago. Consequently and unsurprisingly, the 'Lost' languages eventually began fading into antiquity, with only a few scattered records and the unknowing legacies being the only proofs of their existence.

Speaking of the translators, called Scrolls due to their base design being that of a holographic touch screen in between two solid grips that splits apart to start up, Naruto was to be assigned one of those himself to use for his job. And after a brief demonstration from Haruka earlier, it seemed like a handy tool when it came to accessing the SDC's database for any further background info on Remnant that he needed, since he highly doubted that he'll use it much for its main purpose as a communicator.

"Alright, we're done!"

He heard Ayase call out to grab his attention. Glancing in their direction, he saw Haruka beckon him over towards the Assistant's deactivated console, where a long, silver case laid open. "Took more than a minute, Wheels. You sure you don't need remedial lessons?" Naruto remarked snidely upon arrival, but the girl just ignored his mocking jab and jerked her head towards the open case.

Scooting over to the side with Ayase to give him a wide berth in case he wanted to give it a few practice runs, Haruka asked, "Well? What do you think?"

"Yeah... I'm pretty sure the way I use a sword isn't gonna mesh well with it." Naruto replied, his eyes going from end to end as he sized the weapon up. "Nothing personal. Just a design flaw."

"Oh, don't be so picky, sweetie. You won't know it 'til you try it!" Haruka said, grabbing Naruto's hand and placing it on the weapon's hilt, silently telling him to take it out. "Come now, your swordsmanship can't be that bad." Complying with his wannabe mother's pushiness, Naruto took the weapon out of the case and held it in front of his face. Eyes going up and down as it observed the guard-less rapier that looked like it was crossed with a 'Revolver' handgun. A normal sword hilt with an added trigger and hammer to control the revolving cylinder. Said cylinder having three slots instead of six, all three being occupied with a different colored Dust crystal. And finally, there was a small exhaust port for the Dust to bleed onto the sleek and elegant blade.

"I dunno... The Baseball Bat School of Swordsmanship emphasizes heavy and blindly swung strikes rather than precision and elegance. The old man just might keel over once the data starts coming in..." Naruto deadpanned, emphasizing his statement of his swordplay by making classic baseball bat swings like he was cutting off Grimm heads. Not that Naruto used a sword for swordplay in the first place, only decisive bifurcations and dismemberment. Rapiers were just not suited for such heavy attacks, plain and simple. Though on the plus side, Naruto would be able to secretly enjoy his past time of pranks by giving them crappy data, so there was that.

"Okay... maybe it is that bad." Ayase muttered to herself as both girls grew a sweatdrop. Despite not being much of a fighter themselves, both of them knew that that kind of swordplay was terrible.

"So, what's the dilly with this?" Naruto asked, gaining a puzzled look from his Tuner about what he was talking about. "I thought hybrid weapons are all the rage these days. You know, Sword-guns, Gauntlet-guns, Lance-guns, Shovel-guns...catch my drift?" Naruto elaborated, recalling how the people of Remnant all seemed to have incorporated firearms with their melee weapons. Guns were nearly useless without ammunition, the best they could do in melee is act as a club unless they were fitted with a bayonet. Swords lacked long-distance ability unless you could expertly throw it pointy-end first or shoot sword beams. So the quick-and-easy solution was to put both together, not that he had a problem with it, because it was actually smart and efficient. It was just that some combinations were... odd, to say the least.

"Wait, you've encountered Hunters out in the wild before?" Haruka asked, realizing what trend he was talking about. While it was not that uncommon, it is widely known that Huntsmen and Huntresses were the biggest users of hybrid weapons. "How come they didn't try taking you with them?" It wasn't that hard to get Haruka's point. After all, what humane person would leave their fellow man, much less a child out in the wild and at the mercy of a world teeming with Grimm? And it's not like they had to personally take care of any survivors they found either, since the Governments did have measures in place for such things.

"They did try. I just told them to fuck off and mind their own business." Naruto said casually, laying the rapier back down inside its case and closing it. Haruka tried reasoning with him that there were some things that just couldn't be accomplished alone, but Naruto deflected her unwanted concern by sarcastically retorting, "Yeah, I know. For instance, I know jack shit about how to maintain an advanced weapon like this, but that's why I have Wheels over there to do that for me. Other than that, there's nothing that I can't do myself." He finished, inwardly relieved when he was able to resist his hands from going into a familiar cross-sign on their own.

"Naru-"

"Enough. I'm really hungry now, so this conversation is over. I'll learn about this thing on my own time." Naruto said, taking the case off the desk and carrying it with him as he headed out of the R&D lab. Haruka just looked sadly at his departing form, really wanting to help him but unsure if anything she does will be of any good. Granted, its only been less than a day. But it was still a little disheartening to see someone so young try to shoulder his problems on his own.

"Yeah, he's a real pleasant ball of sunshine alright..." Ayase said as she wheeled herself up next to her. "Don't worry, Ms. Haruka. He's just trying hard to act cool to cover the bumpkin underneath all that. I'm sure he'll come around... they always do eventually."

While it wasn't exactly the most conventional pick-me-up, Haruka nevertheless smiled and reignited her enthusiasm. They do say that the harder the challenge, the sweeter the reward. And though they may not be really mother and son, she was just as determined as any real mother to get him to broaden his horizons and watch him grow into a better person. "You're right. I just have to keep at it! The people of Remnant isn't safe just because of its barriers! It takes guts and determination! I'm sure this can also apply to parenthood!" She finished with a fiery fist pump that did not fit her age.

"Yeah! But let's try and catch up with him first, it's gonna be undoubtedly busy in the cafeteria today and I'd rather not have to stand in a line that stretches all the way to Mistral!" Ayase exaggerated, but the idea was conveyed since there really was a lot of people working for the SDC. Haruka nodded with her suggestion and moved to the back of the girls chair to push her along and catch up to Naruto. Ayase didn't mind the help this time, since she had been growing ever hungrier while waiting for them when she was ditched by her fellows in R&D earlier. It only took a few minutes for them to regroup, since Naruto had to wait for them by the elevator.

"So, Whiskers... Do you have anything you like doing? You know, like hobbies or interests? What about likes and dislikes?" Ayase asked, both because she was curious and because she wanted to stick by her word when she said she wanted to get along with him. On the way here, Ayase had been given a brief summary of how the blonde came to be under the employ of the SDC. Needless to say, she was intrigued by his circumstances, since people don't tend to last long outside the borders of the Kingdoms' natural barriers. But she also wanted to help her surrogate mother's friend with her daunting, self-appointed task.

"Stabbing stuff." Naruto responded curtly, causing Haruka to palm her face at the rather uncouth answer. She was expecting the boy to brush off the question like usual, but instead, she was awarded an answer that... isn't exactly the most common one given in response to those questions.

"Okaaay... Anything else? Anything... 'normal'?" Ayase asked with a sweatdrop at the answer given.

"Training to get stronger."

Now THAT at least made more sense than his previous answer. Both Ayase and Haruka knew a fair deal of people who shared that sentiment, which wasn't uncommon to hear when you consider the fact that they live in an unforgiving world teeming with monsters. But it wasn't the words themselves that were important, but the reason behind the 'want' to get stronger. Something which Ayase wasn't afraid to ask, "Why do you want to get stronger?"

"To slit throats better."

_Ding!_

Thankfully, the elevator came soon after the second round of facepalms and sweatdrops. And much to the two girl's relief, there was at least some other people in the elevator to lessen the awkwardness that hung above them. Near the elevator buttons, Naruto stood a few paces away as he heard Haruka and Ayase talk about their day so far. Judging by the way she spoke with passion, Naruto was able to inwardly surmise that Ayase was at R&D because she was a huge tech-geek. As he idly looked around to pass the time, Naruto caught a glimpse of Haruka sending him a knowing wink. She was doing it on purpose to let him 'hear' something about his new partner. With a roll of his eyes, he tried his best in tuning out the world, which was a slight challenge due to the elevator's smaller space.

Once the elevator's doors opened upon reaching the target floor, Naruto stepped out into the sight of a whole floor packed with people, not just employees either judging by some lacking the mandatory ID lanyards for SDC employees. Doing a full 360 to scout out the whole place, Naruto could summarize this whole floor with the word 'dedicated'. As in, it was a whole floor dedicated to being a cafeteria, or more like a food court than anything. Tons of available seating, a varied line-up of cuisine, and even a wide window leading out to view the front of the SDC for some scenery, which was the obvious frozen trees and snowy fields. _"I've seen that same crap throughout my whole life here, but from this high up... There's just something about it that makes it a lot more...tolerable."_

"I'm surprised you like the scenery." He heard Ayase chirp from right next to him. He didn't realize it until she brought it up, but apparently he had walked up to the wide window while he was doing his observing sweep of the floor, since he was sure he was standing off to the side of the elevator a few minutes ago. "Not many Altesians appreciate it much these days, since it never seemed to change anymore. Winters like extending through Spring, while Summers are either overcast or raining. But I guess the romantic feel that snow gives still makes for good tourism."

"Yeah! Whether you're aiming for some romance or spending time with family, Atlas is the best when it comes to celebrating the Winter Holidays!" Haruka added exuberantly, the whiskered blonde remaining silent as he tuned out what else she was gonna say in favor of closing his eyes to help him look back on his halcyon days. The days when he still smiled as bright as the sun. The days he spent with the people he cared about and they him. The days where he didn't need to worry about a duty he never asked for. The days where he didn't need to fear failure and the consequences it had.

"Something wrong, Whiskers?" Ayase called, interrupting Naruto's trip from memory lane. "What? Don't tell me you miss the boonies already?"

"It's nothing. You guys go on ahead, I kinda lost my appetite." Naruto said, trying to take his mind off the remarks that made him reminisce, not that it was completely unwelcome. But as he was right now, thoughts of better days served as nothing more than a distraction. Briskly walking past the two while ignoring the familiar scent of a food he hasn't had in a long time, Naruto got back in the elevator just in time before it closed and headed for its next floor.

Leaning his back on the metal side and looking out the glass, Naruto inwardly chastised himself for letting some of his old self bleed out of the mental cage he put it in. Helping Ayase get back on her chair, childish curiosity when he held the contents of the case in his hands, almost using 'that' and probably some other things he was missing. He was certain he had it under control, but if it insisted on escape, it will have to go through several layers of security first. Upon reaching his floor, Naruto exited the elevator and headed to his destination, ignoring the question of 'Appointment?' from the nearby secretary as he barged in the room with a casual stride.

"Hey, old man! You got a job for me? I need something to punch or stab..."

"My, my... Powerful, skilled and precognitive..." Mr. Schnee commented as he stood with his arms behind his back in front of one of the many large windows in his gaudy office that overlooked the Altesian horizon. The man broke away from his reflection to address the boy properly, taking note of the silver case in his hands. "And I see you have received the MADR Prototype as well, this should be a perfect opportunity to test its capabilities."

_"No throne of money, though."_

"Your timing couldn't have been more perfect, my boy."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes<strong>

Haha! I said it was gonna be out by Sunday or Monday, but I didn't say WHICH Sunday or Monday! Jokes aside, I do apologize if you were expecting it earlier this week. Just remember that not every factor can be controlled and expectations are best thrown out the window.

Now, I know it was pretty much exposition the whole chapter, but I like to think that I put a good bit of development in between. This chapter, while not completely filler is to set some things up just like the chapter title implies. Do keep in mind that the events of this chapter is on the same day as Chapter 2, so there wasn't that big of a timeskip yet.

For those who guessed that Cat and Ox was Yugito and Bee, then you can pat yourself on the back, since you would be correct. They, along with the other six 'Jinchuuriki' will be playing a role in Naruto's own plot. As for the Guilty Crown characters, I'll admit that I was just borrowing them to help paint the picture, but I may give some of them a slightly bigger role with fan demand or if I can take the time to tweak my plans. On Naruto wielding Myrtenaster, it's just the prototype version, not the version that Weiss has in canon. So as you can guess, it's not gonna be in his hands for long.

Uh... I dunno what else to talk about without spoiling too much, so I'll end it here. Feel free to leave a Review or PM if you have questions. Bye!


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